Cause & Effect | Ominis Gaunt Love Story

Chapter 60: Paradise Lost

 His voice was carefully controlled and quiet as he spoke. "I knew his scream sounded familiar. I'd heard it in the catacombs that night. That fucking, conniving—" he pressed his lips together as he stared at piece of paper which Stella had written on. It bursted into flames in front of her. A sign that he couldn't control his magic with the wrath that coursed through him.

Stella bit her lip, knowing that this changed everything. She recalled what she'd written down perfectly.

S-O-L-F-M-C-N-I-S-A-L-I-V-E-V

It wasn't perfect, but switching out 'Fifth' for 'October' and 'Corsican' for 'Ogre had revealed the truth.

S-O-L-O-M-O-N-I-S-A-L-I-V-E-V.

Sebastian's last chapter, 'The Vendetta' had been a warning.

Solomon was alive. He had a Vendetta.

And that wasn't all.

Ominis kept speaking, his eyes locked on the burn marks on the table. "Solomon is alive. The clues were right in front of me this entire time. Anne died trying to get to me—I could see her body ripped to shreds from the Inferi on the ground. I didn't see Nora's body, I'd seen Solomon's. Or what I thought to be his body. The bastard put a transfiguration spell on her, but I'd foolishly hurt my vision and couldn't see through the magic." At this point, he was rambling. Finally having all the missing pieces to the puzzle and putting them where they made sense, "Sebastian knew he was alive. He knew he'd escaped, but Solomon probably threatened my life if he ever said anything. That's why he didn't want me to visit him—because it'd put my life in danger."

"But the vendetta? Does Solomon blame you instead of Sebastian?" Stella still didn't understand, "Whose scream sounded familiar to you?"

"In the club, when he screamed, I thought I'd heard it before. But why the blondes?" His eyebrows drew together until it clicked. "Nora. Eleanora was blonde. He hated her. He blamed her for fueling Sebastian's desire to cure Anne. He's killing people who look like her, but you..." He lifted a wisp of her hair, "Your hair is fairer. It's like when the sun shines down on snow. Nora was a darker blonde than us... but if he saw you at night, it'd almost look the same...And you were wearing a hood..."

Stella raised an eyebrow, "Ominis. What are you trying to say?"

He finally looked at her with an intensity that made her shiver. "Solomon is alive. He's got a vendetta against witches who remind him of Eleanora..." His voice fueled with hate as he made the map appear of a man who was bouncing around London, "The bastard is mad and he's murdering people under the name of Jack the Ripper."

Chapter 60: Paradise Lost

October 5th, 1890

Sebastian stared at the remains of his sister, ripped to shreds. The blood and smell of human remains burning stung his nose as Ominis' magic was sending stray casts of incendio left and right. Nora was crumpled beside him and it was everything he could do to stop the stragglers of inferi from consuming her. He placed a hand to the base of his throat where the vial was hidden beneath his robes.

He needed to save Ominis who looked like he was about to pass out underneath the several bodies of inferi crawling over him. Sebastian resisted the urge to throw up. Where had it all gone wrong? Why hadn't he chosen his words carefully—this could have all been avoided.